R. Yadav, Taruna1 and Pamposh
Abstract
The study focuses on estimating and comparing the carbon stocks in both man-made and natural wetlands in Delhi. The research objectives are centred on the assessment of carbon stock in the selected wetlands of India, as well as the comparative analysis of carbon stock potential between Najafgarh Lake, a natural wetland and Sanjay Lake, a man-made wetland. The carbon stored in various components of wetland water, soil and vegetation were collected from inland, upland and also edge areas (for vegetation) for estimation. Water quality was analysed for parameters like pH, TDS, EC, salinity, DO and COD. Carbon content in water, soil and vegetation was estimated using C/H/N/S analyser; the Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in water was 0.58 MgC in Najafgarh Lake and 0.43 MgC in Sanjay Lake, whereas Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) was 6.34 g/cm2 carbon in Najafgarh Lake and 5.68 g/cm2 carbon in Sanjay Lake. Vegetation carbon content in Najafgarh Lake was 0.30 g/m2, 0.17 g/m2 and 0.17 g/m2 in inland, upland and edge region respectively and that in Sanjay Lake was 0.25 g/m2, 0.13 g/m2 and 0.14 g/m2 in inland, upland and edge region respectively. The findings emphasize that natural wetlands (Najafgarh Lake), store more carbon than man-made wetlands (Sanjay Lake), demonstrating their crucial role in sequestering and storing carbon, thereby contributing to greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. However, man-made wetlands also showed significant contribution in carbon sequestration. For effective conservation and sustainable management of wetlands, securing ecosystem services, and promoting long-term environmental sustainability will not only help in mitigating the climate change but also in sequestering carbon.